The present invention relates to wearable devices that dispense chemicals such as insect repellents and/or fragrances.
Various techniques have been developed to provide humans with protection from insect bites. For insect control inside buildings a primary emphasis is placed on trying to keep insects from entering the building at all (e.g. placing screens over windows). This sometimes is supplemented with chemical treatment of room air and/or the use of traps. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,582,714, 7,175,815, 7,621,511, and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005/0079113, 2006/0039835, and 2006/0137241.
When the individual is outdoors where the area cannot be effectively screened, and the individual is mostly staying in a particular area (e.g. at a picnic, or on a patio near a building), traps and area-repellents are the primary focus.
Alternatively, when the individual is moving away from a single area that they control, individuals often apply a personal insect repellent to clothing or directly to their skin. However, some consumers have expressed a reluctance to apply insect repellents directly to their skin or to delicate clothing.
As a result, portable electrical devices having a fan and an insecticide source have been developed. These devices may have a clip so that they can easily be mounted on a belt, a purse, or even a pocket, and thus be “worn” by the consumer as they move outside. The device may draw air through, or blow air past, a substrate impregnated with an insect repellent or other air treatment chemical, thereby dispensing the active into the air, preferably (in the case of a repellent) along the outside of a human's clothing. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,926,902, 7,007,861, 7,152,809, 7,168,630, 7,175,815, 7,285,248, and 7,887,760, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0060799.
However, some such devices may blow the active too far out away from the human body, causing too little of the active to reach locations of primary concern (e.g. near ankles). Other such devices do not provide a way of minimizing waste of the active, such as while blower operation is suspended between uses. Still other such devices are unduly costly, are too heavy, or have other deficiencies.
The deficiencies in the above noted devices have been addressed by the wearable chemical dispensers described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,892,487, 7,833,492, 7,917,018, and 8,524,158, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0038761. However, it is still desirable to improve this type of product further, particularly with respect to: (i) providing the user with an indication that the substrate impregnated with the insect repellent or other air treatment chemical needs to be replaced, (ii) assuring that the refill substrate is correctly positioned in the device, (iii) providing uniform dispersion of the air treatment chemical at high energy efficiency, and (iv) providing the user with means for positioning the dispenser on a surface or hanging the dispenser.
Hence, a need still exists to improve wearable chemical dispensers in these areas.